Sen. Gerald Hocker

Immunity from liability for individuals rendering emergency care is addressed in many sections of the Delaware Code. There are several separate statutes providing immunity for specific professions and even for lay individuals providing specific types of assistance. Section 6715 of Title 16 provided immunity to “Firemen, policemen or volunteer ambulance or rescue squad members rendering emergency care” until it was transferred to § 6801 of Title 16 in 1971. Section 3001G of Title 16 provides immunity to peace officers who administer naloxone to an individual whom the officer believes is undergoing an opioid-related drug overdose. Currently, 1 statute, § 6801 of Title 16, addresses 3 topics: (1) lay person, Good Samaritan, immunity for rendering emergency care; (2) emergency responder immunity for rendering emergency care; and (3) the establishment of the Advanced Life Support Standards Committee. The current statute does not clearly identify the emergency responders that are provided immunity and, because of changes in how emergency services are funded, could be interpreted to exclude any person receiving compensation for their work, including firefighters and police officers. This Act amends § 3001G of Title 16 to include all public safety personnel and to reference the general immunity statute for public safety personnel, which provides the exact same level of immunity, to avoid potential conflicts between the immunity statutes and provide consistent immunity protection public safety personnel. Section 3001G of Title 16 does not need to specifically provide immunity to lay individuals who administer naloxone under the Community-Based Naloxone Access Program because lay individuals have immunity for administering naloxone under the general Good Samaritan statute, § 6801 of Title 16. This Act clarifies § 6801 of Title 16 by breaking it into 3 different statutes, 1 statute for each topic, but does not substantively change the law because this Act: (1) Clarifies the individuals covered by the statute without conflicting with the other immunity statutes across the Delaware Code. (2) Does not change the acts for which individuals have immunity and thus continues to provide immunity for acts such as administering CPR or naloxone. (3) Does not change who is intended to be covered by the current language § 6801 of Title 16. (4) Does not change the standard for immunity. As in the current law, the individual only has immunity if the individual did not cause the injuries or death wilfully, wantonly, or recklessly or by gross negligence. (5) Clarifies that lay individuals have immunity when rendering emergency care. (6) Clarifies that public safety personnel rendering emergency care have immunity if the individual has current, relevant training or certification. Specifically, this Act: (1) Amends § 3001G of Title 16 to include all public safety personnel and to reference the general immunity statute for public safety personnel and makes technical corrections to § 3001G of Title 16 to conform to the standards of the Legislative Drafting Manual. (2) Revises § 6801 of Title 16 so that it continues to provides immunity to lay individuals, also known as Good Samaritans, who render emergency care. It uses the same immunity standard as in the current § 6801 of Title 16. (3) Moves the immunity for emergency responders to Chapter 97 of Title 16, the Emergency Medical Services Systems Chapter. This allows the definitions in Chapter 97, Title 16 to apply to the immunity provision so it is consistent and clear that public safety personnel mean law-enforcement officers, lifeguards, park rangers, firefighters, ambulance and rescue personnel, communications and dispatch specialists, and other public employees and emergency service providers charged with maintaining the public safety. It uses the same immunity standard as in the current § 6801 of Title 16. (4) Continues to use a general statement of emergency care or rescue assistance rather than list specific acts. This allows the law to cover any situation, whether or not the specific nature of the assistance is anticipated by the General Assembly, and allows for the law to cover new medical treatment or forms of assistance. (5) Provides a definition for the term law-enforcement officers in Chapter 97 of Title 16, where the term is used but not defined. (6) Removes language from the current statute that excludes care provided on the premises of a hospital or clinic because that distinction is not necessary after the statute is separated to clearly define who receives immunity under this statute. In addition, other sections of the Delaware Code provide immunity for physicians, nurses, and physician assistants who provide emergency care, so those individuals no longer need to be included in this section for when they provide assistance outside of their places of employment. (7) Does not require lay individuals to have training to have immunity but does require that public safety personnel have any current training that is required and relevant to the assistance provided to have immunity. This is because public safety personnel acting in their official capacity often receive some form of compensation for the assistance. (8) Moves the Advanced Life Support Standards Committee to Chapter 97 of Title 16 and makes technical corrections to the language in the current § 6801 of Title 16 to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and to accurately refer to the Division of Public Health, but does not make any substantive changes.

This Act requires a physician to offer a patient ultrasound imaging and auscultation of fetal heart tone services before terminating a pregnancy and provides civil and criminal penalties for the failure of a physician to comply with this requirement. The patient is free to choose not to view the ultrasound or listen to the heartbeat. This Act is known as "The Woman's Ultrasound Right to Know Act."

This act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that protects parental rights.

This Act amends the Charter of Fenwick Island to provide examples of documents that can be used to prove residency in the Town of Fenwick Island for purposes of voting in the annual municipal elections and change the limit on borrowing from $500,000 in any 1 year to 5% of the total assessed value of all non-tax-exempt real property.

This non-punitive, public-health oriented bill seeks to codify certain sections of the federal law known as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), as amended by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), that requires states to have policies and procedures in place to address the needs of infants born with and identified as being affected by substance abuse, withdrawal symptoms, or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, including a requirement that healthcare providers involved in the delivery or care of such infant notify the child protection services system. This bill formalizes a uniform, collaborative response protocol for the development of a Plan of Safe Care for infants with prenatal substance exposure and their affected family or caregivers.

Section 1 eliminates the need to use an ordinance to appoint a Town Manager and specifies that all departments, including the Police Department, report directly to the Town Manager. Section 2 outlines the Town Manager's responsibility for the Police Department. Section 3 eliminates the organizational details of the beach patrol.

This Act creates the Omnibus School Safety Fund to provide funding to public and charter schools for certain school safety projects.

This Bill would allow all on-premises licensees who sell a bottle of alcohol (other than beer) to place a cap on the bottle and allow patrons to take it home with them for consumption later. Delaware was one of the first states to recognize that it was important that patrons who purchase a bottle of wine have the opportunity to take the remainder of the bottle home with them rather than face the choice of drinking more than they should and driving, or leaving part of the bottle they had paid for at the premise.

This Act is designed to address underage gambling offenses under § 4810 of Title 29 in a more efficient way. Section 1 of this Act requires mandatory counseling for underage individuals who gamble in violation of § 4810(a) of Title 29 and provides for original jurisdiction for these violations in the Justice of Peace Courts for those who are 18 years of age or older and for original jurisdiction for these violations in the Family Court for those who are 17 years of age or younger. Section 2 of this Act gives Superior Court jurisdiction over other violations of the underage gambling law. Section 3 makes violations of § 4810(a) of Title 29 eligible for probation before judgment. Section 4 of the Act makes violations of § 4810(a) of Title 29 a warrantless crime, which would permit violators to be processed through the use of a criminal summons. Finally, this Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill increases the 1-time fee from $35 to $50 for Delaware’s environmental license plates in order to increase revenue to improve the capacity of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays and The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary to fulfill their responsibilities to the protection and restoration of Delaware’s estuaries.